1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to awnings and more specifically to awnings for mobile homes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to facilitate the transporting of mobile homes, their size is generally limited to conform to highway regulations. When a mobile home is parked, however, this limited size makes it desirable for people to congregate outside the home. A particularly favored area in which people can relax is a shaded area commonly provided by an awning which extends from the side of the mobile home. These awnings are preferably of the type which can be rolled up and retracted into a stored position in close proximity to the side of the mobile home.
In the past, an awning support rail has been provided to extend longitudinally along the top of the mobile home. With awnings having a common rectangular configuration, one of the long sides of the awning is attached to this awning support rail. At opposite ends of the support rail and close to the bottom of the mobile home, lower mounting members have been provided for pivotally mounting a pair of main support arms to the mobile home. At the opposite ends of the main support arms, a spring biased roller has been provided which extends substantially parallel to the awning support rail and is connected to the opposite long side of the awning.
The rollers supporting the outer edge of the awning have been spring biased to roll up the awning into a compact configuration as the main support members pivot on the lower mounting members. In this stored position, the main support members extend vertically along the side of the mobile home.
In order to maintain the main support member in the extended position of the awning, rafter arms have been provided which extend generally between the main support member and some location above the lower mounting member. In one form of awning, an upper mounting member is provided near each of the ends of the awning rail. A rafter arm having two free ends is connected to one of these upper mounting members and the associated main support arm. In the stored position, these rafter arms have been merely laid in a channel provided in the main support arm. In the first instance, it has been difficult to remove these rafter arms from the channel. Even when they have been removed, it has been difficult to align and connect the free ends of the rafter arms to the upper mounting member and main support arm. This alignment and connection of course must be performed while the person assembling the awning is holding the main support arms outwardly in order to impose the spring bias on the roller.
In another form of awning structure, rafter members have been pivotally mounted to the mobile home by upper mounting members which have been disposed near the ends of the awning rail. the opposite ends of these rafter arms have hung free of the main support members in the stored position and had to be lifted into locking relationship with the main support member in an extended position. In order to move the rafter arm into this extended position, it has been necessary to align the free end of the rafter arm and then engage the main support member. As is the case with the rafter arm having two free ends, this alignment and connection of the rafter arm is particularly difficult since the spring bias of the roller has had to be opposed as the person struggles to bring the free end of the rafter arm into position.
In other forms of retractable awnings, a tubular member has been provided to extend generally between the lower mounting member and the end of the awning rail in close proximity to the side of the mobile home. A rafter arm has had one end pivotally mounted to the outermost end of the main support arm. The other end of the rafter arm has been connected to a slide which has been movable along the tubular member from a lower position associated with the stored position of the awning to an upper location associated with the extended position of the awning. Although this form of retractable awning has solved some of the problems associated with those rafter arms having free ends, the provision of an extra tubular member along the side of the coach has been expensive, cumbersome and inconvenient.